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Over 500,000 tune in to Irish Simpsons episode

Thu, Mar 19, 2009, 00:00

More than half a million Irish viewers tuned in to watch the premiere of
In the Name of the Grandfather, the Irish-themed
Simpsonsepisode broadcast on St Patrick's Day.

The episode - the first
Simpsonsepisode to premiere outside of the US – attracted 511,000 viewers, more than doubling the previous highest audience for a Sky1 programme in Ireland.

A Sky spokeswoman said the premiere topped the highest rating list on the night with a 33 per cent audience share exceeding the next highest programme (
Eastenderson RTÉ1, with a 13.5 per cent share), according to its multichannel home figures.

Sky said the 60.5 per cent share of children watching was also a record, as was the 40 per cent share of the15-24 year olds audience.

"This is a fantastic result and confirms Sky1 as the home of
The Simpsonsin Ireland," Sky's director of airtime sales Richard Kelly said.

The episode, described by the producers “as a love letter to Ireland”, sees the eponymous family embark on an eventful jaunt to the Green Isle.

The series, which chronicles the lives of the bungling Homer, his wife Marge and children Bart, Lisa and Maggie, is in its 20th season and has clocked up some 450 episodes.

Sky 1’s previous record audience was an interview with glamour model Rebecca Loos, broadcast in April 2004, following rumours of a relationship with soccer player David Beckham.